Environmental Issues of the Nineteenth Century

Faculty

Description

(Offered as HIST 104 [C] and ENST 220.) This course considers the ways that people in various parts of the world thought about and acted upon nature during the nineteenth century. We look historically at issues that continue to have relevance today, including: invasive species, deforestation, soil-nitrogen availability, water use, desertification, and air pollution. Themes include: the relationship of nineteenth-century colonialism and environmental degradation, gender and environmental change, the racial dimensions of ecological issues, and the spatial aspects of human interactions with nature. We will take at least one field trip. In addition, we will watch three films that approach nineteenth-century environmental issues from different vantage points. Two class meetings per week.

Spring semester. Professor Melillo.

Course times and locations

HIST 104 - L/D

Section 01Tu 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM MERR 4Th 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM MERR 4

Textbooks

Below are the textbooks used in this course, along with pricing information and availability at local bookstores. The price range shown is based upon queries to multiple online booksellers; roll your mouse over the price field to see detailed pricing information.

ISBN

Title

Publisher

Author(s)

Comment

Book Store

Price

978-0520239098

Crimes Against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation

Karl Jocoby

Amherst Books

TBD

978-0520249301

American Perceptions of Immigrant and Invasive Species: Strangers on the Land

Peter Coates

Amherst Books

TBD

978-0820332901

Passions for Nature: 19th Centure America's Aesthetics of Alienation

Rochelle Johnson

Amherst Books

TBD

978-0821416815

Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and Culture in Britain since 1800

Peter Thorsheim

Amherst Books

TBD

978-1859843826

Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World